Wrapping machine



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Patented Oct. 1S, `1929 ELMER LOVELL SMITH, OF SPRINGFIELD,

MASSACHUSETTS, Assleiv'oa To PACKAGE MACHINERY COMPANY, OlliSPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION` OF MASSACHUSETTS WBAPPING'MACHINE Application led March 17, 1926. Serial No. 95,436.

This invention relates to Aimprovements in lwrapping machines.

The novel features to be hereinafter described are applicable to allmachines of this 'general character, but for illustrative pur poses amachine for wrapping rectangularly shaped articles will be described.

'Une object of the invention is 'to provide means for guiding thewrapping material across the open mouth of a Wrapping wheel While theWrapper is being delivered thereto and is accomplished by actuating theguiding means towards and away from the delivering means.

[Another object ofthe invention is the provision of means movable in apocket of the wrapping vand other means for pressing an article andwrapper thereagainst, which acts in conjunction with the pressing meansto clamp the article and wrapper therebetween as they are advanced intothe pocket lso that the Wrapper isheld from shifting With respect to thearticle.

Another object is the provision of means operable by thearticle-advancing plunger for ejecting an article from the Wrappingwheel whether or' not an article is Vinserted thereinto by said plunger.

Another object of the invention is the provision of adhesive applyingmeans, the operation of which is controlled by thecondition ofplasticity of the adhesive material.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following descriptionof the invention which is illustrated in the form at present preferredby 4means of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan viewof a machine embodying the features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig 2b is a diagrammatic view representing the path of the articletransporter;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational .view

of a portion of the machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showsthe adhesive applying mechanism and operating means there for' Fig. 3ais an isometric View of the member movable in the pbcketof the wrappingwheel and the. end tuckers of said wheel; Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevational View taken onthe line 1f-4 of Fig. 1 showing the tumble boxoperating mechanism;

Fig. 5 isa diagrammatic isometric View showing the plungers foroperating on the article; v

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of the reciprocating guide for the WrapperSheets; and

Figs. 7 to 12, inclusive, are isometric views showing the manner offolding the wrapper about thearticle.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, i

a bed 1 and side supporting frames 2 land 3 Aare suitably securedtogether and arranged to support the mechanism constituting theinvention. A drive shaft D rotatable in Suitable bearings 'of the frames2 and 3 may be driven from any suitable source offpower,

such as a line shaft belted therefrom to al pulley fixed on either endof said shaftbut which has been omitted in the drawings for clearness. y

The articles A may be fed to the machine by a feed belt B of ordinaryconstruction so as to be delivered thereby in the direction of the arrowa inmFig. 1 and onto a support or chute 4 which is provided withoppositely disposed side guideways 5 for guiding the articles intoproper position with respect tothe mechanism for advancing the samethrough the machine.

I preferably employ a belt feed of the intermittently operating typearranged so that a line of articles in the chute is urged against a stopplate 6 at the end of the chute. The stop plate is preferably positionedso that it will locate the article bearing thereagainst accuratelybeneath and in alignment with a vertically reciprocating plunger 8, andthe chute 4 is disposed so as to convey the articles at a level abovethat of a plunger 9 which advances it into the wrapping mechanism. Thearticle, as it abuts the plate 6, is unsupported by the chute by reasonof the chute at this point being cut awayto allow the article to beforced downwardly therethrough onto a table 10.

The articles, arranged in line in end to end relation in` the chute orone abutting the next and-being urged forwardly by the belt,

l of levers 14 and'v15, which are oscillatable on shafts 16 and 18 fixedin spaced-apart bearings 17 fixed to bed l. A rearwardly extendln arm 19ofthe lever 18 is pivotally connecte tothe end of a connecting rod 20which is fixed to a yoke 21- slidable on the "driving shaft D. A cam ofsuitable form ixedon said shaft operates on a cam roll 22 of the yoke 21and is arranged to actuate the plungerr- B up and down in a proper timedrelation with respect to j the other parts of the machine, thearrangement of the levers 14 and 15 being such that the U plunger willbe maintained in a level position during its up and down movement.

The plunger 9, having a forwardly dependin portion 25, is xed to amember `26 which .1s slidable back and forth. on a guide rodl 27supported byxthe table 10 and a' bracket 28. A downwardly extendingportion 29 of the member is arranged to straddle a bar .30 fixed to theunderside of the bed and is ladapted to maintain the member and plunger9 in .a level position during the reci lrocation thereof. A

T eplunger member 26 is connected by a link 31 tothe upper end ofa'lever 32 mounted to swing on a rock shaft 33 extending between thesupports 2 and 3 andreceiving its motion from-an eccentric 34 fixed onlthe driving shaft D and connected thereto by a connecting rod 35. A

. Portions 36, extending from opposite sides of the member 26, have inscrew threaded en agement therewith, so as to be adjustable, orwardlyextending ejectors in the form of rods 39 which, as will later appearare arranged to actuate a movable member `of the wrapping wheel. Theseejectors -are carried forwardly with the plunger 9 in each forwardmovement thereof. The mechanismjustdescribed is 'preferably arranged sothat the plunger'9 will operate aftert an article has een deposited onthetable 10 to advance it and a wrapper sheet into a ypocket of thewrapping wheel.

'The wrapping material, which `may be in the form of sheets, isdelivered to the machine by any, suitable feeding mechanism such as isdisclosed in my pending application Patent No. 1,656,084 Jan. 10, 1928,and may be received between vertically disposed guides 40 supportedabove the machine which are arranged to direct the -sheetbf .serted intothe wheel.

wrapping material between the table 10 for supporting the article and apocket 11 of the wrapping wheel.

Ordinarily, a movable guide for guiding the paper is disposed in thepath of the article to be advanced into the wrapping mechanism and isarran ed to be moved out of the path by the a vancing article or plungerso as to allow. the article to be in- According to one novel feature ofmy invention,l I eliminate the necessary mechanism therefor and provideguiding means movable in and out of the path of the article whichreceives and guides the sheet and is so arranged as to be positivelymoved out of the path of the advancing article at a certain time, andconsists of the following. Guidemembers 42 having slots 43 in the upperends thereof to form separated side guide bars 44 for receivingtherebetween the lower end of t-he f wrapping sheets are mounted in aspaced relation on a vertically movable member 45, supported onthe endsof levers 46 and 47 which are oscillatable on pivots 48 of a Vbracket 49fixed to the under side of the bed 1. The lever 47 has a depending arm50 which is connected to an eccentric 51 fixed on the shaft D and by themeans of which the levers are oscillated to move the guides `up and downbetween they position shown the guides may be timed so as to be intheir.

upper position so that the sheet S is delivered thereinto by the guides40. As the sheet' continues to descend between the guides, they arelowered simultaneously therewith so as to be out of the path of thearticle as it is bleing advanced forwardly by the plunger 9.

In order to properlyposition the sheet so that it will register with thearticles in the desired manner, sheet supporting or stop members 52 areprovided against which the lower end of the sheet may rest. Thesecomprise upwardly and forwardly extending arms fixed to a shaft 53 thatis oscillatable in the bed 1. A slotted lever arm 54, fixed to the shaftadjacent the outer side of the bed, may be secured in various positionsof adjustment by means of a screw 55 whereby the stopsl 52 that, as thearticle is advanced thereto as in Fig. 7, the said article and wrappermay be inserted in a pocket of the wrapping wheel lnow to be described.

-The wrapping ,wheel 12'comprises upper and lower walls that may beintegralwith forks 61 at opposite ends thereof. Shafts 62,

secured to the forks and to the walls, are ro- Plates 64 are resilientlymounted in the well.

known manner adjacent the inner faces of the members 6.0 and are adaptedto yieldingly ein brace thewrapper and opposite sides of theA articlefor folding the wrapper about three sides of the article as shown inFig. 8, as they are inserted therebetween bythe plunger 9. Side folders66, arranged in pairs so as to engage' opposite ends of the article, arecarried by the upper and lower plates 60 and are preferably adjustablysecured `thereto 'by means of screws 67. These folders 66'are arrangedand adapted to embrace the ends of the article and to tuck the wrapper,as at b in Fig. 8, as the wrapper and article are inserted therebetweenand into' the pocket of the wheel. It will be noted by referenceto Fig.8 that an extension of flap c of the Wrapper will project outwardly'fromthe pocket of the wheel in the well known manner. I These folders A66are, as usual, spaced at top and bottom from the face of the plates 60so as to permit the extensions c and c of the wrapper to extend betweenthem and the plates, as is customary in devices of this character, andare s aced apart as shown to form a slot 67' there etween for thepurpose nowfto be described. A bar 68, disposed in parallelism with theaxis of rotation of the wrapping wheel,

'has reduced portion 68 for movement in the slot 67 between the folders66 and at its opposite ends is fixed to rods 69 slidable in the yokes6l. rPlates 70, fixed to the bar 68 between the end folders, arearranged so as to form, in conjunction with the bar, a block or movablebottom for the pocket. It will be noted that the plates 70 are spacedapart to form anopening therebetween through which a transporter pushermember may operate, engaging the rear side of an article after 1t hasbeen ejected therefrom. When the wheel is positioned for receiving anarticle and wrapper, the bar is located in the opposite end of thepocket from that shown in Fig. '2 andin which position the forwardplates have their forward face substantially flush with the edges of thetension plates 64 at the receiving side of'the pocket. As the articleand wrapper are brought into engagementl therewith by the plunger4 9,the article andl wrapper will be clamped `between the plate and plungerso that the wrapper will not shift relative to the article and theplunger, in advancing', will move the plate and bar rearwardly of thepocket as the article is inserted thereinto and at the same time willeject an article from the other .side of the pocket into a foldingchute.

vVlvith the bar 68 in the receiving position just described, the rods 69will extend towards the ejectors 39 and will, if there is no article inthe pocket, be engaged by the ej ectors 39 rok as lthe plunger-9advances in a feeding movement whereby* the ejectors will move the barlrearwardly of the pocket and thereby eject an article and wrapper fromthe pocket of the wrapping wheel. The eje'ctors B9, however, arepreferably so 'adjusted that there will' not be a-contaet of theejectors 39 and rods `69 whenever there is an article in position on thetable l0 to be inserted into the pocket by the plunger 9, in whichcase'thearticle will act to move the so-called tumble box bottomforejecting the article at the opposite side ing engagement with a gear7 3 rotatable on v a stud 74. Rolls on the face of gear 73 enterv slotsg of a geneva G in the well known manner to rotate said geneya, which isrotatable on a stud 76, and a gear 7,7, integral with said geneva, is inmeshing engagement with a driven pinion of the shaft 62 of the wrappingwheel. Keepers 73 ofl well known form are carried by the gear 73 andare, as usual, arranged to prevent a rotation of the geneva as thedriving rolls are rotated from engagement with one slot and intoanother.

As the article is rotated by the wheel in a clockwise direction, theextendingwrapper flap c is frictionally engaged by a wiper W pivoted toa 'support W and which is urged against the article and wrapping wheelby a spring w of usual form.' As the wrapping v wheel comes to rest, thearticle and wrapper are in the form shown in Fig. 9 and may then beejected into the folding chute.

'As the article and wrapper-are ejected from the pocket of the wheeleither by the insertion of an articleat the other side thereof or by theaction of the ej ectors, all f which has been previously explained, itis a vanced into the ,mouth of a folding chute which chute, aside fromits novel characteristics as will be vmore particularly pointed out, isof well known form and comprises the'following. Bars 78 are providedthat extend longitudinally of the machine and are adjustably sel curedby screws 7 8 to a vertically adjustable of the rods and as the saidshaft is rotated,

the member will be raised or lowered to various positions of adjustment.The member n under.

, lthe article 1s formed of bases or tables 85 that extend inthedirection of travel of the article Thelower-side ofthe chute forsupporting and are adjustably secured to the upper side vof the bed byscrews 86. These members are spaced apart so as toallow a transportingmechanism to operate therebetweenv on the articles and are madeadjustable so that they j vanced in a step-by-step manner through theimay be moved towards or away from one another to accommodate articlesof'different sizes.

85 vand function in the ordinary manner to form the tuck d in thewrappers as the articleand wrapper are advanced into the chute. Thearticle and wrapper are preferably adehute by a'transporter` mechanismlater to be described, and during the movements of the article thevarious folding operations are performed by means of the'following.l p

Folders 90, carried by the bars' 78, are formed so as tolay the flap 'eagainst the ends `of the article as it is moved to the positionrepresented by dotted lines Pf in Fig. 2. As the article is advanced andleft in this position, the lower wrapper extensions f which projectoutwardly from the ends of the article receive a daub of adhesive.material as 'represented X from a daubing mechanism which wil presentlyhe described.

The Atransporting mechanism referred to will now be described withparticular refer ence to Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

A central web 100 hasdownwardly depend-i1 ing lugs 101 and carries onits upper side a plurality of article engaging or pusher members 102.4The forward pusher ber 10,2'is adapted in the operation of thetransporter to enter between the-plates 70 in order to engage the rear.face of an article ejected fromfthe pocket of the wheel. A bracket 103fixed to the under side of the bed has swinging levers 104 pivotedthereto that :have their lower ends connected to links 105.

movement back and forthwithin the chute and the parts are preferably sodesigned that the pushers are carried in a path as diagram- Endtuckers-88 are secured-to the members memmatically represented in Fig. 2b.. Thatis to say, each of the pushers will engage the rear face of the articlesin the chute and advance them simultaneously therealong the desired orrequired distance during each cycle of operationof the machine. As thetransporter reaches the forward end of its stroke, as will be seen inthe diagram, the pushers return for another article advancing movementby a lowering and a rearwardly directed motion.

The 4shafts 107 receive their rotary motion by means of the mechanismshown in Fig. 3. A driving pinion 108 fixed on the shaft D is in drivingengagement with a gear 109 fixed on shaft 107 at the left fordrivings'aid shaft, while a connecting rod 110, pivotally connected tosaid gear 109 and to the end of a crank 111 fixed on the other of theshafts 107, imparts a rotary motion t@ the latter. The web` member 100,together with the links 101 connecting it to links 105, operates as asecond eonnecti'nor rod to prevent stalling of the right hand shaft 107as the driven shaft 107 passes dead center.

shaft 117, has its end pivotally connected to al link 121 which has itslower end connected to a member 122 fixed to the bed 1. A pawl 123,carried by the lever 120, is arranged to engage with the teeth of theratchet 119 and as the box is raised by the lever 116, since the end oflever 120 will be held from a raising movement, the pawl 123 will rideover the teeth of the ratchet. As the lever and box descend, the pawl inengagement with the ratchet will cause a rotation thereof and will bringthe face of the roll 118 carrying the adhesive from within the box sothat it will be applied tothe extending wrapper flap f. A scraper 124,adjustable on the box and arranged to he positioned adjacent theperiphery of the wheel 118, is adapted to regulate or control thethickness of the film of adhesive in the well known manner.

A heating element E, which may be in the form of an electricalresistance unit, is provided for insertion in a side of the box and mayeasily be controlled for maintaining the plasticity of the material inany desired deree.

When the sealing wax is hardened by cooling, it will be obvious that itwould be difficult to rotate the wheel 118 without liability of injuringthe mechanism and in order that the level and box may not be forceddownwardly by the operating mechanism, I provide the following.

The levers 116 are rotatable on an oscillatable shaft 130 and haveupwardly extending arm portions 131 which carry adjusting screws 132. Acentral lever 133 fixed to the 115. As the lever 133 moves to the left,the 'i levers 131 will follow such movement or not, according to whetherthe adhesive material is suficiently plastic lto allow a rotation of thewheel 118. If the material permits a rotation of the wheel, the box andlever' will move downwardly so that the wheel will apply a daub ofadhesive to the extending wrapper flaps as at X.

The shaft 130 is oscillated by means of the following. A downwardlydepending lever 135, fixed' to said shaft 130, is pivotally connected toa link 136 which is similarly connected to a member 137 fixed to a stud111 of the crank 111. i

As the crank 111 is .rotated by the connecting rod 110 for actuating thetransporter, the inner end of themember 137 is rotated about` the axisof the shaft 107, whereby the arm 135 is moved back and forth to raisethe lever 116 and to allow it to subsequently descend for an adhesiveapplying operation. i

In the operation of the'machine, artlcles to be wrapped and sheets ofwrapping material are delivered to the feed channel 4 and guides 40respectively. As has been explained, the articles in the channel are inend to end contact and the action of the feed belt will force theendmost article against the stop plate 6, and the plunger 8 in thelowering movement will carry the endmost article downwardly onto thetable-10. a During thls downward movement of the plun er 8 the wrappersheet guides 42, which ave een elevated to receive the lower end of thesheet, areA moved downwardly simultaneously with the sheet, the loweredge of which comes to rest upon the positioning stops 52. The

' guides 42, however, continue downwardly to their lowermost positionwherein they are below and out of the path of movement of the plunger 9.The wrapping wheel pocket is positioned to receive an article and wrapper in which position the bar 68 and plate structure are at thereceiving end of the pocket.

The Aplunger 9 on advancing engages the side of an article on the.table10 and movesit into engagement Vwith the vertically dlsf posed wrappersheet and by its continued advancing movement clamps the sheet betweenthe article and a movable plate 7 0 or bottom of the wrapping pocket.The bar 70 and plates 64 of the wheel will preferably offer someresistance to the advancing movement of the plunger and are desirable inorder to firmly clamp the wrapper between the article and plate so as tohold the wrapper from a shifting movement with respect to the article.The movement of the plunger will force the article and wrapper into thepocket and cause the bar and plate to eject an article from the oppositeside of said pocket into the folding chute. l

If for any reason an article is not positioned for the action of theplunger 9, the ejectorscarried thereby will, on being advanced, engagethe rods 69 fixed to the bar of the wrapping wheel and will move thesame to eifect yan ejection of an articleiffcarried by the pocket at itsdischarging-side.

As the article and wrapper areinserted in the wheel, the wrapper willextend from the upper side thereof as at C; and as the wheel is rotatedin a clockwise direction, the flap will be engaged between the wiper Wand wrapping wheel and pulled tightly about the article and will assumethe position shown in Fig. 9.

As the article and wrapper are ejected into the foldingchute, the flapextension is laid against the upper side of the article by the plate 83,while the tucks d are made inthe end extensionsl of the wrapper by thefolding blades 88. 4

The article is advanced by the trans orter in a step by step mannerthroughout the ength ofthe folding chute and, durin 'these movements,the end extensions e are olded against the ends of the articles while,when at rest in.

Ivanced to the supports at the end of the ma sov chine from which theymay be removed by the operator.

f .While the invention `has been described in the form at presentpreferred, I- am aware that many changes may be made 'in the formthereof without departing from the scope thereof and I therefore preferto 'be limited bythe appended claims rather than by the description.

What I claim is:

q1. A wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping wheelhaving o` posed openings for receiving articles to e wrapped, meansactuated by an article delivered into one .opening for ejecting anarticle from the opposed opening, and means o erable only in the absenceof an article to e delivered into one opening for expelling an articlefrom the'opposed opening.

2. A wrapping machine comprising in comthe pocket.

bination, awrapping wheel having a pocketextending therethrough forreceiving an article, a member movable in the pocket by an articleinserted at one side thereof to eject an article at the other sidethereof, means for delivering an article into the pocket, and con-`nections between the delivery means and the member operable only in theabsence of an v-article to be delivered into the pocket for shifting theplunger to eject an article from 3. A wrapping machine comprising incombination', a wrapping wheel having a pocket extending theret rou hfor receiving an article, a member'mova le in the pocket by an articleinserted at one side thereof to eject 'an article at the other sidethereof, a plunger for delivering an article into the pocket at one sideof the wheel, and projections carried signature. lELMER L. SMITH.

by the plunger of insuiicient length to reach said member in thepresence of an article-but o c e from the wheel in the. absence of anarticle being delivered into the wheel by the plunger.

4. A wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping wheel havingopposed perable to shift the member to eject an artipockets forreceivingarticles to be wrap ed,

connected movable bottoms in said poc ets .positioned so that when onebottom is pushed into-its pocket the `depth of an article the otherbottom will be substantially iush with the outer surface of the wrappingwheel, means for rotating the wheel so that the openings are`alternately presented into receiving and discharging positions, meansfor introducing an article and a wrapper into a pocket when in receivingposition so that the wrapper is gripped between the article and theoutermost pocket bottom, a .partially Wrapped 4article in theother'pocket of the the motion Wra ping wheel being ejected li) b by themoveof t e connected bottoms caused ment of the article into the Wheel,and mechanism for moving the connected bottoms to discharge an' articlefrom the wheel operative onl in the absence of an article to be delivereinto the wrapping'wheel.

5. A wrapping machine comprising, in. comblna'tion, a wrapping-channel,means for delivering wrapping material to intersect the channel, areciprocable paper guide present-' ing anopen paper-receiving slotintowhich the lpaper may drop freely from said means, mec anism forreciprocating the guideacross the wrapping channel, and an adjustablepa-` er stop upon, which the paper is deposited uring the downwardmotionofthe guide.

6. wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping chute havingwrapper folding means, a wrapping wheel aligned with the chute andhaving opposed pockets, means for rotating the wrapping wheel to bringthe pockets successivelyinto alignment wlth the entrance to the wrappinchute, connected movable bottoms in sai pockets, a

